Auto Trader's profits almost doubled and revenue accelerated past the £400m mark during its record financial year, new figures have confirmed.
The Manchester-headquartered company has reported pre-tax profits of £301m for the 12 months to March 31, 2022, up from the £157.4m it posted for the prior 12 months.
Its revenue also increased from £262.8m to £432.7m over the same time.
READ MORE: Click here to sign up to the BusinessLive North West newsletter
Auto Trader said its revenue in its prior year had been impacted by its decision to provide free advertising to retailer customers in April, May and December 2020 as well as in February 2021, and at a discounted rate in June 2020.
The results come after Auto Trader agreed to acquire one of the UK's largest new car leasing marketplaces in a deal which could be worth up to £200m.
Chief executive Nathan Coe said: "This year marks the best financial and operational performance in our history, which is credit to our people and the partnerships we have with our customers.
"We are well placed to continue growing our core business while establishing the products that retailers will need to shift more of the car buying journey online, on Auto Trader.
"Despite the current high levels of economic uncertainty and industry change, we enter the year with good reason for both confidence and optimism."
The average number of employees also rose from 909 to 960.
On its outlook, the company said: "The new financial year has started well. In April this year, we successfully executed our annual pricing event which included the launch of our Auto Trader Connect product.
"We are anticipating another good year of ARPR growth, underpinned by our product lever.
"We expect growth in the product lever to be greater than 2021, but less than the exceptional performance achieved in 2022.
"We expect the price lever to be broadly consistent with last year, and the stock lever to be flat.
"We anticipate average retailer forecourts to be marginally down year-on-year, as market conditions start to toughen.
"Consumer services is expected to increase at a rate of low-mid single digits year-on-year, while manufacturer and agency remains unclear due to well documented supply chain issues. These two areas only represent c.10% of total group revenue.
"Despite pressure on costs, we anticipate operating profit margins to be consistent year-on-year at 70%.
"This outlook does not include the acquisition of Autorama, which will be provided upon completion. The completion date is not yet known as not all regulatory approvals have been received.
"Despite growing economic uncertainty, the board is confident of meeting its growth expectations for the year."
